MGM to NBA: You and Your Gang-Bangers Should Stay out of Vegas

MGM Mirage Chairman Terry Lanni said fans attending the NBA Allstar game and subsequent related events during the four-day weekend, Feb. 16-19, disrupted regular hotel and casino operations and kept other customers from venturing into the company's 10 Strip resorts.

"They came for purposes other than attending the game and they weren't very good for Las Vegas," Lanni referred to the NBA fans as "gang-bangers." A number of people stayed in their villas and suites. They felt uncomfortable," Lanni said. Both Lanni and MGM Mirage President Jim Murren made their views known to NBA Commissioner David Stern during the conference call. Murren said Stern could "keep his All-Star Game out of Las Vegas."We think the disruptiveness of the NBA All-Star Weekend did have a tangible negative effect on gaming revenues."

I happened to be in Vegas during the NBA Allstar weekend, and can testify first hand that the town looked like one giant Snoop Dog convention with punk-ass hip-hoppers and gang-bangers all over the place. I agree with Lanni: David Stern should be ashamed of that event and he'll be lucky to step foot in Vegas again. Detroit may be a better destination for him. Stern should be begging Vegas (which has a lot more class than the NBA) to accept an NBA franchise, not the other way around.